Staff Spotlight Executive Chef - Chris Martinez

Each month we would like to introduce you to a new and important member of the ad hominem team. This month, we are pleased to introduce you to our Executive Chef, Chris Martinez. If you haven’t had a chance to meet him yet, pop in for a meal and say hello!

Chef Chris, a New Jersey native, began cooking at a young age with his mother. He segued his love of cooking into local establishments before working at the NoMad Bar in Manhattan. He moved to Denver to complete his culinary degree and began working at Rioja, where he rose up to the position of Sous Chef. His food focuses on delivering bold flavors while maintaining simplicity and balance. Working with the freshest and most local ingredients provides him with the opportunity to create new experiences for his diners.

We asked him to compare cooking to art, and he said, "To me cooking is one of the highest forms of art. Who else has to take something that came from the dirt, clean it, cook it, and transform it into a piece of art that is as pleasing to the palate as it is to the eye? So I get confused when others try to transform the product away from what nature intended it to be. For example if Iwant to serve a guest a carrot, I want to serve the best carrot I can find. I want to change it as little as possible as to remind the guest how good that carrot really is."

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